Expert: Griff Ruby - 8/15/2006

Question
I was raised in a home where my grandfather was a priest, but
since he passed away I've only loosely clinged to my faith. It's
always been there, but not strongly.
Now these days I know I should be more interested in God and
learning about Him and what he has to say, and living the more
spiritual life, but I find myself aversive to it! In a way, I'm just not
interested.
I try to look online to at least get myself to read a bible verse a
day to get myself motivated, but these days it seems more and
more like a chore.
How can I get back the faith that God describes so beautifully
through the works of His servants in the Bible? What can I do to
get back my Joy and enthusiam in Christ?

Answer
I would be curious to know more of your background.  You state that your grandfather was a priest.  What kind of priest?  East orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic, Wiccan?  If he was a Catholic priest, how is it that he is also a grandfather?  Was he laicized?  Did he just leave?  Was he Eastern Rite Catholic or one of those rare cases in which a married minister of another church is accepted, wife and all, as a priest of the Church?  Did the mother of his children pass away and he went to the priesthood instead of remarrying?  The other question I would have is the nature of this "aversion" to Divine things.
First the grandfather bit.  If he left or was laicized, or some other kind of priest than Catholic, then his spiritual influence may likely have been defective, for example by being liberal and humanistic instead of truly focused on God and following a truly God-centered religion.  Such a kind of human-centered "sense of religiosity" has no ablilty to inspire interest or devotion to God.  So this matters as to the nature of your understanding of what it is to have faith and the nature of what you are seeking.
The aversion bit could be more serious.  It may only be that he allure of the worldly things makes things of the Faith seem "boring" by comparison (really, which way would you prefer to spend a short period of time, watching a funny television show that makes you laugh or praying the rosary?).  If it is merely the allure of worldly things, then something to show the "interesting" side of the Faith may be enough to remedy your spiritual ennui.  More about that later.
Or it could be that there is some sin in your life that you don't feel that you are willing or able to give up for God.  A person with an addiction to gambling, drink or drugs, or some unchaste habit may wish not to be reminded of their failing or of what they will have to give up if they want to take religion seriously, even as a man in dire finacial straights may not wish to see a bankbook.  More about that later.
Finally, an aversion to spiritual things could (small possibility, but it must be at least briefly noted) be evidence of demonic possession.  If, for example this grandfather of yours had been a Wiccan or Spiritualist or Satanist priest or if you had an ouija board as a kid, and so forth, this might be a genuine probability.  Unless you follow up this answer with a suspicion that this might be the case I will not pursue that possibility further here.
Now, about the possibility of sin in your life, again only you can answer that question (and I don't need to know what the sin is).  If this is the case, are we dealing with something you simply don't want to give up, or something that you have tried to give up and failed?  If it is something you don't want to give up, then you have your answer right there.  Your choice is between the Faith versus having this "something."  You want to be able to enter Heaven and escape Hell?  Right here is the price of entry.  As long as at least a small part of you wants Faith and can pray to God asking for it, there may yet exist the hope that with the help of God that part of you will overcome the "other" part of you that wants this other "something" whatever it is instead.
If you have struggled unsuccessfully with some sin that you know and accept that you must abolish, but simply "can't help it," then this is where a frequent reception of the sacraments would be most particularly in order.  Confess the sin to a priest, and be resolved to resist it to the fullest extent that you can, and to confess it again and again if it overtakes you again.  Some saints have struggled with various sins for years before finally overcoming them, but persistence is the key here.  If you fall, pick yourself up and resume the struggle against it again.  As long as the situation is at least seriously "being worked," there is no reason for any aversion to spiritual things.
Finally, here is the clue to find what is interesting about the Faith.  Notice how conflict is interesting?  All of competitive sports (football, hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.) depend upon the conflict between one team and the other team.  A significant percentage of stories told and written, plays, television shows, and movies have based themselves on the classic "good guy versus bad guy" premise.  The supreme such conflict is of course the conflict between what God is doing and what Satan is doing in our lives and in the world at large.
This starts with identifying the real conflict within ourselves and fighting it in earnest.  The real conflict is not between taking the bother to look up a Bible verse once in a while and read it versus lying back and saying "why bother?  I can do it tomorrow," but between the sin (or whatever) that makes you averse to spiritual things ("don't remind me") and the desire to have Faith which you already know entails the giving up of whatever this sin is.
Once that conflict within yourself is resolved, then is it time for God to begin showing you what fights He is fighting in the big outer world and what you can be doing to help, and that too will be interesting.
Finally, one other side point.  The internet is only a source of information, not a source of Faith.  For that you really do need the personal (offline) action and interaction with the members of a congregation, and especially those involved with some particular apostolate, and to be working with your priest to receive the sacraments (especially confession) on a frequent and regular basis.
Hope all this helps, God bless!